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The city's tryst with tennis

With its reputation as one of the best-organised events on the Tour, the Chennai Open has begun to attract players of the highest calibre

PHOTO: R. RAGU

STAR ATTRACTION Rafael Nadal signing autographs

Rafael Nadal has just finished a routine press conference after his first round match. It's close to 9 p.m. but outside the media centre at the Nungambakkam tennis stadium, a fairly sizeable crowd waits expectantly, slips of paper or autograph books in hand. The World No. 2 emerges and is tackled almost immediately by a large crowd. The scene seems straight out of rugby.

Nadal, a gracious and obliging lad of 20, has something that these people want: a couple of words, a scrawled signature, a slice of his glory. Above all, we want the chance to tell our grandkids, perhaps more importantly encapsulate and embellish that memory for ourselves: I met Nadal.

A clash of perspectives

Chennai has been fortunate with tennis. The Krishnans and the Amritrajs, as fine as sporting families come, are entrenched here. Audiences, through the years, got to watch some decent Davis Cup matches, and even if this may appear like a generalisation, their appreciation of tennis is fairly nuanced.

Of course, the older generation's perspective is very often soaked in nostalgia and not a little snobbery, while youngsters would do well to read Bill Tilden's masterpiece, The Art of Lawn Tennis (a book that is out of print but freely available online). The former tends to idealise the eras that preceded advancements in composite racquet technology, while the latter believes there is no better substitute for power. Rarely do these views meet. But all said and done, tennis has, over the past four decades, evolved into a professional and serious art, and while a lot of the glamour surrounding organised sport is superficial, the game itself has remained true. Players have grown more focussed. This writer's mother, a diehard McEnroe fan, often remarks that she wishes she could have watched some top quality tennis live, back in the old days.

With its reputation as one of the best-organised events on the Tour firmly in place, the Chennai Open has begun to attract players of the highest calibre. That can only be a good thing.

The Internet, even more than television, has changed the way we view sport; it performs the role of an interactive encyclopaedia. While TV allowed us conditional access to matches that earlier one could only read about in the newspapers, the worldwide web permits us to view and download clips on demand. One can then learn from paying close attention to the Federer forehand, the manner in which Davydenko positions himself for his shots or Nadal's mastery of the kick-serve.

With the proliferation of sites such as YouTube, the audience has turned broadcaster: it won't be long before someone uploads clips of Nadal or Moya playing in Chennai. Meanwhile, ATP players' blogs are doing their bit to supplement newspaper reports; it's always interesting to read what players make of their experiences, especially once they get past the introductory platitudes. This peculiar kind of confessional breeds the illusion that we are growing to know them as people, not celebrities. The immediacy of the medium is gripping.

The downside is that sophisticated visual technology works best for recent matches. The modern viewer, accustomed as he is to high quality images, has no patience for grainy videos, and may or may not accept word-of-mouth evidence of greatness, while subconsciously believing that reputations were grossly enhanced through reiteration.

Nadal, this year's star attraction, has been here before; he won the doubles title in 2004 with Tommy Robredo as an 18-year-old. While on court, he can be cocky to the point of seeming insolent, Nadal's perception of the real world appears sane. The Mallorcan relies quite heavily on the crowd to get his momentum going, and given that our crowds love brand names, Nadal should manage a decent run this year. Hopefully, that will be incentive for him to keep coming back.

VIJAY PARTHASARATHY

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